USA: Dr Mehmet Oz outlines vision for CMS

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is a federal agency in the United States that administers major healthcare programmes, including Medicare, Medicaid, the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and the Health Insurance Marketplace. 

CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz has set out his vision for the agency, including a commitment to President Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” agenda and modernisng Medicare, Medicaid and the ACA marketplace.

As a first step, CMS will implement President Trump’s executive order from February aimed at boosting healthcare price transparency. The order directs the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Labor and Treasury departments to “rapidly implement and enforce” healthcare price transparency enforcement regulations that the president introduced during his first term.

It will work to streamline access to life-saving treatments by “equipping providers with better patient information versus unnecessary paperwork.” The agency did not elaborate further on how it would streamline care access.

Identifying and eliminating fraud, waste and abuse is a top priority for the agency. During his confirmation hearing process, Dr Oz promised scrutiny of the Medicare Advantage program amid allegations of widespread fraud, and expressed concerns about MA sales and brokers encouraging seniors to switch to MA policies for financial gain.

CMS will focus on prevention, wellness and chronic disease management. HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has identified chronic disease as a key priority under his leadership. He has criticised the influence of the pharmaceutical and food industries, linking issues like obesity and diabetes to ultra-processed foods, federal subsidies and dietary guidelines. He has called for reforms targeting food additives, pesticides and environmental health risks, alongside overhauls of agencies like the CDC and FDA.

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Source: Becker's Hospital Review, 10 April 2025